Paint It Black: An Unusual NYC Condo Lists for $5.995 Million

Former ad executive Cindy Gallop is selling her Manhattan condo, painted entirely in shades of black, for $5.995 million.

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An unusual New York City condo painted in shades of black lists for $5.995 million. Michael Weber

Located in Chelsea in an old YMCA building, the 3,800-square-foot loft with two bedrooms and three bathrooms has a large open space that serves as the living room, dining room and kitchen, along with a master bedroom and a master bathroom with no doors. There are two additional bathrooms with doors, two dressing closets and two walk-in closets in the middle of the space that serve as storage and walls for Ms. Gallop's extensive art collection.

Ms. Gallop bought the space raw in 2005 for $1.5 million, according to public records. She said it used to be the men's locker room of the YMCA and that she spent about $1 million finishing it. She drew inspiration for the design from a bar in Shanghai. "I was in a drunken haze and I realized I wish I lived somewhere like this," she said, adding that her designer Stefan Boublil came up with the all-black motif. All the walls and ceilings are painted in a black gloss. There's a large black-tiled bathtub, shoe storage in the living room (Ms. Gallop's pumps also serve as artwork) and black floors throughout.

The apartment was the set for the Notorious B.I.G.'s "Nasty Girl" video, featuring P. Diddy,Nelly and Jagged Edge. Ms. Gallop said the hot water wasn't working at the time so Nelly was soaking in a tub of freezing water trying to look happy next to two models. Her home also was used in the season finale of the 13th season of "Law & Order SVU." "They didn't add any props," said Ms. Gallop, whose home is accessorized with items including a Gucci chain saw and an AK-47 festooned with Chanel logos. "They said it already looked like a pimp lives here."

Ms. Gallop said she is selling because she doesn't want to have a mortgage anymore. She now works as a start-up entrepreneur and consultant on brand reinvention and digital branding; she said she's no longer the ad executive she was when she designed the home and threw parties featuring "hunky buff male models" as waiters. "It's the kind of apartment that's very polarizing," said Ms. Gallop. "You either love it or hate it."

Shlomi Reuveni of Brown Harris Stevens in New York has the listing.

—Alyssa Abkowitz

English Style in Virginia: A 20,150-Square-Foot Mansion In Great Falls Sells for $7.4 Million, a Record for the Area

A 20,150-square-foot English-style manor home in Great Falls, Va., has sold for $7.4 million, the highest price on record for a home in Great Falls.

Leslie Alexander, owner of the NBA's Houston Rockets, has paid $42 million for a penthouse in New York's Gramercy Park. Alyssa Abkowitz joins the News Hub with a look at this week's Private Properties. Photo: Evan Sklar for The Wall Street Journal.

James G. Carlson bought the home, according to public records. He is the former chief executive of Amerigroup, which was acquired last year by WellPoint, the second largest health insurer in the nation. He declined to comment. The seller is the Hanlon Family Trust, according to public records. The trust is controlled by Richard and Pamela Hanlon. Mr. Hanlon, now retired, was the senior vice president of investor relations at AOL Time Warner.

The home has six bedrooms and nine bathrooms, as well as an herb garden, library, pool and wine cellar. The Hanlons built the home in 2007, taking inspiration from the Cotswold-style homes they saw on their frequent trips to England. They purchased the 5 acres of land that the home sits on for $2.5 million in 2004, according to public records.

The Hanlons first listed the home in 2011 for $12.5 million. When they relisted the home this past February for $8.75 million, they said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that they had decided to sell because they were traveling more and using the house less often. They didn't return a follow-up request for comment on the sale. Penny Yerks of TTR Sotheby's International Realty represented the sellers. She declined to comment. Piper Yerks Gioia, also of TTR Sotheby's International Realty, represented the buyer. Ms. Yerks Gioia declined to comment.

—Lauren Schuker Blum

Hoop Dreams: Houston Rockets Owner Leslie Alexander Buys a Penthouse in Downtown New York for $42 Million

Leslie Alexander, owner of the Houston Rockets basketball team, has paid $42 million for a penthouse in New York's Gramercy Park, atop a former Salvation Army residence for women.

The penthouse is on the two top floors of 18 Gramercy Park, a conversion designed by Robert A.M. Stern that set records for condo prices soon after it went on the market last year. Mr. Alexander's purchase represents the highest sale price in downtown Manhattan, according to city records. But prices have continued to rise, and a penthouse at 56 Leonard Street in TriBeCa is now listed in contract for $47 million.

The condo purchased by Mr. Alexander, a former Wall Street trader who was born in the Bronx, has 6,330 square feet of interior space and 1,889 square feet of space on four terraces, along with five bedrooms and 5½ baths, a library and gallery. A 40-foot-wide terrace faces Gramercy Park, with views facing the Chrysler building in the distance. There's an outdoor infinity pool with sun deck on one terrace and a heated whirlpool on another. Both terraces open off the master bedroom.

In 2010, Mr. Alexander resold an unfinished penthouse at another new downtown building for $31.5 million, setting an earlier record for the most expensive downtown condominium. He had paid $25.5 million for it the year before, and never moved in.

Asked about the flip, Mr. Alexander said that he decided he didn't want to do a complete renovation and preferred a more central downtown location. "I wanted to be more in the center of the city," he said. "I live on the water in other locations, and this beautiful building is really in the core of the city."

18 Gramercy Park was developed by Zeckendorf Development and Eyal Ofer Global Holdings, who were two of the development partners of Mr. Stern's 15 Central Park West, a building that holds current records for the most expensive closed condo sale in Manhattan. Melanie Lazenby of Douglas Elliman represented Mr. Alexander in the transaction.

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